December 2017 Club Meeting

Pat and Co were kept busy giving every person who attended the meeting a ticket for the door prize… a Richard’s Tyrepower wheel alignment voucher valued at $89!

Plus all members who attended this meeting were given a special ticket for the Members Only Prize, a nice set of cool orange MAXTRAXS.

The Mitsi Club recently made it into the West Australian newspaper all for good reasons. Our Club purchased 2 new defibrillators from St John Ambulance which will be available for trip leaders to take on trips. Many members took advantage of First Aid training subsidised by the Club. Now, in the unfortunate event of a medical emergency, many of us are first aid trained and have the important equipment to assist if such is the situation. One surprising (and somewhat disturbing) fact is that sudden cardiac arrest can strike any person regardless of age, gender or health. The single most important factor contributing to improving survival rates is the time taken to administer early CPR and defibrillation.

Judith has been liaising with Richard’s Tyrepower to obtain discount cards for members new to the club since the first cards were distributed. If you didn’t get your card on the night, please see Judith at the next meeting.

CLUB CLOTHING: It’s been a while since our last uniform order so Marie informed us that she would be placing an order before Christmas if anyone wanted a new shirt. Paul called forward a few members to show off the types and styles of shirts we wear. We appear to have some budding models.!

Membership Officer Kim introduced new Members Malcolm and Jovita.Malcolm and Jovita own a Toyota Landcruiser and enjoy camping and 4WDing. I’m sure they are going to fit in just fine! Welcome to the Club.

Trip Coordinator Peter Fry, showed visitors and new members how the trip system works. Though I.T. assistant Steve had a hard time trying to keep up with him as he navigated his way around the trip calendar. Peter explained the advantages to visitors in their providing an email address and phone number. He also showed us how to view and see what trips we are on. Did you know you can see all the trips you have put your name down for, by clicking on the number beside your name on the Membership list in the Members Section.?

Our sponsor Roger, from Goodchild Enterprises joined us for the night. Apart from donating some fantastic prizes for the raffle he explained his new favourite 4wd piece of equipment…a Matson Battery Monitor. This instrument has the ability to check the vehicle system charging voltage to give an early indication of any issues to alternator or batteries.

Roger and Peter Cole are looking to organise another Goodchild Open Day in early 2018 but if you need something before then, you can always pop into his wholesale retail outlet atCockburn.

Be sure to mention you are a Mitsi Member. Roger and his team have a wealth of knowledge on batteries and battery related devices and is also happy to chat radios, aerials, solar panels to name just a few of the other items on his shelves.

Matt was the very pleased winner of the Matson battery monitor from Goodchild.

As the night moved along it was time for our 2017 Award Presentations.

First off the bat was the Piston Broke

As you know this award is presented to the member who has brought humour, fun and laughter to a club event during the past year. Nominee… Peter Cole…yep that’s right! Peter Cole!!! Peter was nominated for the Piston Broke for his whole Youanmi Trip! Gee what did he do?? …

There were a lot of rather confused faces at the meeting so Peter tried to redeem himself and ‘explain’ the unexplainableso here is the run down for his award..

Peter chosePayne’s Find to refuel…where it took so long for 11 vehicles to refuel that everyone took each opportunity to race off and have a shower.

He took us on tracks that couldn’t be seen on anyone else’sOz Explorer… except his..!

Peter brought his beloved mother’s ashes on the trip for spreading in the Youanmi Cemetery in the outback she loved… which unfortunately didn’t happen and so affording her his other outcome when Bruce broke the urn spilling the ashes onto the soil… and Richard K. swiftly swept them up with dust pan and broom .. then we all watched Richard K throw her into the campfire…! You had to be there.! (and before anyone gets upset Peter’s mother’s real ashes have long ago been lovingly laid to rest) It was Fiesta del Muerte…says it all..!

Then, that night, having also led the previous year’s Easter mud bogging at Billiburning Rock after a big storm, Peter raised the alarm that night at 2am,waking everyone fromdeep comfortablesleeps, to alert us that with the big storm and all the rain we’d just had the ground was/ would / could sink beneath us all.! So we decamped only 200m .. out onto the formed road…. to then sit and wait for dawn. Toasting sandwiches,drinking tea and coffee and yawning till the sun came up…while the other self contained campers went back tosleep in theirdeep comfortable beds.

Was a great trip..!

Club Member of the Year: Most active member during 2017. Points are given to members for trip and event participation and meeting attendance.The most active member for 2017 was Gary Arcus.

For Gary , meetingsincluded Club, Committee, General meetings, Association meetings and Track Care events. Gary was our winner by a mile with a whopping score of 560 points. He was surprised that he’d won this Award saying “I just put my name down for trips and attend meetings…EASY!”

Now you all know the secret to winning this award. In second place was Bruce Brinkley with 490 points and third place was Peter Fry with 460 points. Well done guys!

Photo of the Year: This award is for the photograph that best represents the Club’s motto ‘Outward Bound’. There was a good response of photos submitted but it was Janine Rosser’s stormy night photo of a Pajero and camp set up taken on the Youanmi trip that took out the POTY award. The winner, Janine won a $50 Goodchild voucher. Enjoy spending, Janine.

Ian Lockhart: The Ian Lockhart Award is the Club’s most prestigious award, granted to a​ ​club​ ​member,​ ​individual or​ ​family,​ ​who​ ​has​ ​made​ ​an​ ​exceptional​ ​contribution​ ​to​ ​the​ ​club​ ​during​ ​the​ ​past​ ​year. Being the great bunch that you are, and all the exceptional work you do, Paul received quite a few nominations for this award.

Some of the nominees to mention a few

Muzz and Rachel Baskerville

“On a recent trip through the Pilbara, they were constantly helpful and offered good suggestions. Their sound mechanical knowledge and quiet unassuming presence was very helpful. Rach and Muzz are great to have on any trip.”

Marie and Ivan Cifuentes

“With Marie’s video graphic skills and Ivan’s editing ability, they provide great entertainment to meetings, providing trip reports in a startling new format. (video) Ivan has continued to entertain and inform members, and at the same time created a level of anticipation that monthly meetings have never had before”

And the 2017 Ian Lockhart winner, a very deserving Peter Cole!!

“Continuously works hard to engage new and existing members and enhance their club experience. Peter dedicates much of his free time to organising events and activities that make the Mitsi Club active and sustainable. This year he has continued his commitment to maintaining the standard of activities that has been generated within the club, encouraging trip leader volunteers, leading his own trips, furthering the First Aid training and not giving up on Ozi Explorer trainees (you know who you are )”

A huge Congratulations to our 2017 award winners.

TRIP REPORTS: Because of the agenda being so full, most trip reports were deferred to first meeting in 2018.

Don’t forget to check out the calendar for upcoming trips. Remember click on the number in front of your membership list name to make sure you are registered for all trips you wish to attend.

We were entertained with a Cifuentes video production of the recent Quinninup Falls trip. Now on the private Facebook page for those wanting to check it out.

Then, for the last part of the night that everyone was looking forward to…. The RAFFLE. The many prizes attracted a lot of attention with everyone hoping that they had winning tickets.

Pics of some of the lucky winners

A big shout out “Thank You” to our sponsors and to the other companies who donated prizes for our special December meeting .

Tom’s ARB team offer a discount for club members so if you are in store, don’t forget to mention that you are a member of the Mitsubishi Club.

Sea to Summit donated an award winning lightweight sleeping mat. If you are after lightweight camping stuff, check out Sea to Summit products. They have some awesome gear.